Graylog2/graylog2-server

Support Bearer Tokens for authenticating instead of using a token in basic auth

Open

#5167 opened on Oct 1, 2018

View on GitHub
 (1 comment) (1 reaction) (0 assignees)Java (6,945 stars) (1,032 forks)batch import
featuregood first issuetriaged

Description

Expected Behavior

When a user creates a token which can be used for authentication, it should be accepted by the server when passed as part of a Authentication: Bearer <Token> header.

Current Behavior

For token authentication, the server expects basic auth with the username set to the token and password to token. This is rather proprietary. Additionally, some systems which are otherwise capable of speaking to Graylog (e.g. the telegraf prometheus plugin speaking to the Graylog prometheus metrics reporter do not work due to the nonacceptance of Bearer Tokens.

Possible Solution

Steps to Reproduce (for bugs)

Context

Your Environment

  • Graylog Version:
  • Elasticsearch Version:
  • MongoDB Version:
  • Operating System:
  • Browser version:

Contributor guide

Tech stack
java
Domain
authentication
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
JavaAuthentication conceptsGraylog server codebase
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
50
Research direction
Look at the existing authentication flow in the Graylog server codebase, particularly how token based auth is implemented (likely in classes like `TokenAuthService` or `AuthenticationFilter`). The current behavior uses Basic Auth with token as username and 'token' as password. The goal is to also accept the token in the `Authorization: Bearer <Token>` header. You may need to modify the authentication filter to check for Bearer token, parse it, and validate against stored tokens. Check the issue comments for any additional context or rejected approaches. No linked PRs exist, so you'll need to research how other plugins (e.g., Prometheus reporter) authenticate. Ensure backward compatibility with existing Basic Auth method.